Shurik's Static

Open Questions

4 min read

  1. How do we solve coral reefs ?
    • Context
      • Coral reefs are the closest I’ve come to experiencing an alien world. Reefs cover less than 1% of the ocean floor but host roughly a quarter of marine species, protect coastlines from storm surge, and provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people. They are dying all across the world. There are several reasons for this:
      • Ocean warming — mass bleaching events now recur on timescales shorter than reef recovery. Since 2023, the fourth global bleaching event has hit >80% of the world’s reef area.
      • Ocean acidification — as CO₂ dissolves, pH drops and aragonite saturation falls, making it harder for corals to calcify.
      • Agricultural runoff — nitrogen and phosphorus drive algal overgrowth, sediment smothers polyps.
      • Chemical disruptors — oxybenzone, octinoxate, and other sunscreen chemicals; also pesticides, heavy metals, microplastics.
      • Overfishing of keystone species — particularly parrotfish and other herbivores that keep algae in check; loss of apex predators triggers trophic cascades.
      • Destructive practices driven by incentive mismatch — dynamite and cyanide fishing, coastal dredging, anchor damage, unregulated tourism.
    • How do we understand the problem better?
      1. Citizen science
      2. Monitoring at scale
      3. Researching open questions like:
        1. Why are some coral genotypes and some reefs far more heat-tolerant than others?
        2. How much does the coral microbiome matter versus the coral’s own genetics?
        3. Where are the thermal refugia — places that will stay cooler as the oceans warm — and are they protected?
        4. What are the tipping-point dynamics, and can we detect early warning signals?
      4. Forecasting- helps to some extent with premptive
    • Potential Solutions
      • Direct interventions
        1. Coral gardening / artificial reef structures
          • There are many non-profits attempting this, but to actually scale this well is a different matter entirely.
          • Coral Vita seems promising:
          • Mossy Earth rebuilt a coral reef:
        2. Assisted evolution - make coral reefs more resilient
      • Upstream interventions
        • 1.Watershed and wastewater management.
        • 2.Addressing incentives/economics
          • Reef credits ?
          • Reef insurance?
  2. How do we solve microplastics ?
    • Context
      • Microplastics are a problem. They’re in human blood, placental tissue, testicles, breast milk, and brain tissue. They can cause reduced sperm counts and fertility, thyroid dysfunction, metabolic disorders, neurological and developmental effects, and likely contributions to several cancers.
        • The primary source, by far, is tire wear.The other major sources, roughly in order:
        • Synthetic textiles (laundry shedding)
        • Fragmentation of larger plastic waste — packaging, bottles, bags, fishing gear degrading under UV and mechanical stress.
        • Agricultural plastics — mulch films, greenhouse plastics, sludge applied as fertilizer (which reintroduces whatever the wastewater plant captured).
        • Artificial turf infill
    • Understanding the problem better
    • Potential Solutions
      • Tire microplastics
        • Directly collecting dust as it is produced by the tires
        • Plastic-free tires
        • Road runoff treatment.
      • Laundry microplastics
        • Plastic-free clothing - scale new and existing fibers for various purposes
        • Collecting microplastics via filters installed in washing machines
      • Water microplastics
        • Okra-fenugreek polysaccharides - can this scale to municipal wastewater volumes, and at what cost per megalitre?
  3. How do we have better sensemaking around human lab rats ?
  4. How do we better screen the chemicals around us ?
    1. Endocrine disruptors
    2. PFAS
    3. Microplastics
    4. 6PPD
    5. Heavy metals
    6. Mold
  5. How do we build better systems for governance?
    1. https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/12/30/balance_of_power.html
    2. https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2023/11/27/techno_optimism.html
  6. How do we improve (good) coordination ?
    1. https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2020/09/11/coordination.html
    2. stigmergy
  7. How do we scale healthy - or at the very least - non-unhealthy food to everyone ?
  8. How do we build tools for thought to model complex systems?
  9. How do we understand what we put in our bodies better ?
    • Can we build Examine.com (especially their Research Breakdown) feature, for any substance out there?
      • Considerations
        1. Identifying
      • Implementation
        • Options
    • How do we a) use the anecdotal data out there from human lab rats more effectively? b) have systems that make it easier to collect high-quality data from individuals who have high risk appetites?

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